Kyle Police Chief Michael Blake is among the final three candidates to take over the Bastrop Police Department, Bastrop officials announced last week.
Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot cut the field down from six candidates to three on Dec. 30. Ken Evans, a Round Rock Police Department lieutenant, and Jeffery Wendling, a Kerrville Police Department captain, are also still in the running.
Talbot plans to perform a second round of interviews with the last three candidates and expects to announce the individual whom Bastrop will offer the position to by mid-January, officials say.
Bastrop began the search for a new police chief after former Police Chief David Board resigned following a drunk driving arrest in August.
Blake said that he submitted an application to Bastrop officials in October when there was doubt in Kyle’s direction after both its city manager and finance director resigned.
He remained mum on the details of being a finalist or if he will still leave if selected. He had said that he is optimistic about Kyle’s future after recently meeting with the new Kyle City Manager Lanny Lambert.
Bastrop had a population of about 8,650 while Kyle was more than three times larger with 28,576 as of January 2010, according to state demographer estimates.
Blake, who has more than 35 years of experience as a police officer, was the Harlingen and Tomball police chief before coming to Kyle.
